It's easy to give out goodies this Halloween that is healthier for the kids AND help the animals, plants and people we share the planet with.
The good news is the market place has answered and there are lots of tasty, healthy, and more ecological choices available than ever before!
Many kids with allergies now carry a tell tale blue treat bag. But I keep two bowls with separate treats (peanut allergies can cross contaminate and be serious), and just ask when they come to the door.
In which case, you can always stick to sour patch or licorice, or you can buy gluten free pretzels, cookies, or cheese sticks in bulk then make little packages of your own. You can find themed bags on at any party store. I found these cool ones, 72 for $12 on Amazon!
A few fun, affordable choices if you want to forego candy altogether :
Pretzels in individual bags - even if they aren't Halloween themed. Healthy and less expensive too! This year I bought Snyders mini pretzels at Walgreens. It was 24 little bags for $4.29, half the price of chocolate treats.
How about organic salted popcorn with organic coconut oil, found at places like CVS or Target,18 bags for about $9, or get a case of 24 bags for $16 right from Lesser Evil.
Places like CVS now carry little toys - witches fingertips, pumpkin bead mazes, tiny containers of slime, mini slinky's that won't break the bank. Party stores always carry bags of multiple tiny toys like squirt guns or little parachute figurines for kids parties that can easily be given to Trick or Treaters. Lastly, you can get books or sleeves of stickers, cool colored pens or Post It shares in neon colors. You can even give out quarters or half dollars, or rolls of pennies (you'd have spent that on a Milky Way or Twixt minis)... a novelty for kids today.
In the end, kids do like candy the most. You may personally care about giving candy made without Palm Oil to curb the deforestation caused by its use and preserve the highly endangered habitat of species like the orangutan, pygmy elephants and the Sumatran rhino.
Here's a list of Orangutan Friendly, Palm Oil Free candies according to ProductsWithoutPalmOil.com, which does a deep dive if you want to know more. You may also want to check out Ethically Produced Candy
- Atomic Fireballs
- Boston Baked Beans
- BRACH’S:
- Candy Corn Treat Packs
- Classic Candy Corn
- Mellowcreme Pumpkins
- Mini Candy Corn
- Naturally Flavored Candy Corn
- Divine Chocolate
- Dots
- DOVE Chocolate:
- Milk Chocolate Bars
- Milk Chocolate Promises
- Dark Chocolate Bars
- Dark Chocolate Promises
- Dum Dums Original Pops
- Endangered Species
- Goobers
- Good ‘N Plenty
- Hershey’s Bars:
- Glow in the Dark Snack Size Wrappers Milk Chocolate
- Milk Chocolate
- Milk Chocolate with Almonds
- Skor Toffee
- Special Dark
- Special Dark with Almonds
- Hershey Kisses:
- Fall Harvest Milk Chocolate
- Milk Chocolate
- Milk Chocolate with Almonds
- Monster Kisses Milk Chocolate
- Special Dark Mildly Sweet Chocolate
- Spooky Kisses Milk Chocolate
- Hershey’s Nuggets:
- Milk Chocolate
- Milk Chocolate with Almonds
- Special Dark
- Special Dark with Almonds
- Jolly Rancher Hard Candy
- Jolly Rancher Lollipops Spooky Sweets
- M&M’s:
- Almond
- Cookies & Screem – Doesn’t list palm oil but I don’t know the source of the Natural Flavors
- Dark Chocolate
- Fun Size Milk Chocolate Glow in the Dark Trick-or-Treat Packs
- Milk Chocolate
- Mini’s Milk Chocolate Minitube
- Mint with Dark Chocolate
- Pretzel
- White Candy Corn
- White Pumpkin Pie
- Nerds Grape and Strawberry “For the Love of Nerds”
- Nerds Rainbow
- Red Hots Original Cinnamon Candy
- Reese’s – must read labels; snack size, individually wrapped cups may be palm oil free
- Ring Pop
- Saf-T-Pops Lollipops
- Skor
- Sno Caps
- Wholesome Organic Lollipops
- York Peppermint Patties
- Yum Earth Organic Candy Corn
- Yum Earth Organic Pops
These are considered ethical candies for a host of reasons, and I am seeing these more in common grocery stores, not just health food emporiums. You might be able to find deals at the brand's website, or on Amazon and have it delivered in time!
Justin’s Peanut Butter Cups: These classics are organic and Rainforest Alliance certified, so they’re good for the environment and good for your health.
Endangered Species Chocolate : This company offers mini chocolate bars perfect for distribution, and they give 10 percent of their proceeds back to their various partners working to protect biodiversity. All ingredients are also guaranteed fair trade, so you know the chocolate is sourced responsibly.
Project 7’s Gourmet Gummies: For a fruity addition to your bowl, throw in some Gourmet Gummies from Project 7. This socially responsible company partners with nonprofits around the world working on various social impact initiatives, including human health, environmental health, homelessness, food scarcity, water accessibility, education, and peacemaking.
Big Picture Farm Caramels: These caramels are made on an Animal-Welfare Approved goat farm in Vermont, and come individually wrapped for easy pass-out.
UNREAL Peanut Butter Cups: An ethical alternative to Reese’s, these organic peanut butter cups are made with all fair-trade and sustainable ingredients. They’re also completely natural, vegan and gluten free.
TIP: Once the night is over, if your kid has more candy than they can or should consume, spread the joy a little further by donating the excess to Treats for Troops, Halloween Candy Buy Back , or Operation Gratitude. If your kid wants to give back themselves on the holiday, have them Trick-or-Treat for Unicef, and collect money to help millions of children around the world while they collect their treats - this time via a QR code!
Witching you a very scary, merry Halloween!
Image from ARTGAZE on ETSY.com.
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